Is this destiny?

Zack excused himself and went to greet Masika.

She was surprised and happy to see him, "I didn't know you are coming."

"I found out just before coming here...", Zack responded and joined them for the card game.

Merve was at the table as well and she recognized Zack as the one who came with Masika to rescue her and Hande.

"Is Hande here?", Zack asked.

Merve confirmed and pointed toward the dock. Ade and Hande are still sitting there and chatting.

When Zack left to join Masika, Noah looked at Sarah expectantly.

"Relax, Noah. Everyone here is family.", Sarah said. "Think of this as a night off."

Noah told himself to be cool. He should not show how giddy he is to be next to his Mistress, and Aiden is not around. He glanced around and voiced his observation. "Many new faces."

Sarah understood that Noah is not familiar with the new girls or with Master Hollow and his disciples.

"Remember the extraction we did in Las Vegas about three months ago? At that time, we ended up with a new base." Sarah saw Noah nod and she explained: "The girls are ready to join us. They are still green, but some of them are promising."

"Do you want me to train them?", Noah offered.

Sarah rejected. "At this time, that is not necessary. But if you want to do something useful…" Sarah gestured toward Master Hollow. "He is a master who can teach you many moves that are so effective that they look like cheats. If you can get his trust, it will be beneficial for you. For everyone."

Noah observed that Master Hollow is in the wheelchair. "What happened to him?"

"We encountered armed enemies. He took two bullets instead of his disciple, and he is recuperating at our place. I don't know how long he will stay, but it should be at least a few weeks. I'm hoping he will stay longer..."

Noah listened to Sarah's short introduction to Master Hollow and he understood that this is a mission. If he succeeds, he can power up. Sarah told him that the old man likes stories, and Noah has stories to tell.

…

"Where are the pups?", Sarah asked Aiden when he returned empty-handed.

"They ate and slept off right there on the kitchen floor. I moved them back into the crate, they didn't move a muscle." Aiden responded and blinked at Noah who is chatting with Master Hollow. Aiden could not believe that Noah is wasting this unique opportunity to be close to Sarah. "How come that leech is not sticking to you?"

Sarah smiled. "I gave him a mission to entertain Master Hollow."

Aiden knows that Master Hollow could use entertainment. "If Noah is successful, he can stay longer and return with us in two days."

Sarah laughed. "You don't like him, but you don't mind using him."

Aiden didn't deny it. "He is freeloading, at least he can be useful."

"I think that you are softening up toward Noah.", Sarah voiced her observation.

Aiden frowned. There is no way he will admit this because it's not true. No matter how good and useful Noah is, the fact is that Noah is obsessed with Sarah, and Aiden can't be at ease with that. Maybe Noah is keeping his hands off from Sarah now, but that does not mean that it will stay that way.

The rest of the evening passed in a good mood and they didn't stay in the garden late. By ten o'clock, everyone was in their rooms, getting ready for the night. They had an early start and a busy day, and tomorrow will be exciting.

Zack got a task to sleep with Kitty and he protested when Kitty went on a tree to sleep. 

"Am I supposed to sleep on a branch or on the ground under the tree?", Zack whined.

Sarah laughed. "Relax. Kitty has a tracker on her collar. Use this...", she gave him a device and started showing the options. "You can set an alarm if Kitty moves outside certain area..." 

…

5:34 AM

Hande got out of the villa, geared up for her morning run. She always wakes up first among all the girls at the Beach House.

She trains more than the others, because she is the smallest and the slowest and she needs to put an extra effort in order to catch up. Ever since her talk with Ade, three months ago, she decided that she will not be left behind because if Ade can do it, so can she.

Sarah told her not to train more than instructed, but running is fine as long as she listens to her body and does not overdo it. So Hande runs.

Hande checked the map of the area in her room, and she saw that the property is on a ten acres lot which is square-shaped.

This property is bordering the White Rock Lake on the front, the road at the back (with more residential buildings on the other side), on one side is neighboring property and on the other is a large park. That means how Sarah's and Aiden's mansion at the White Rock Lake has only one direct neighbor.

The lot is positioned at the beginning of the peninsula and the property which is neighboring it is fifteen acres large, covering the peak of the peninsula.

Sarah and Aiden knew that some of the kids might want to go for a run, and that is why they provided a map in every room. Other than the information about the lot and the neighborhood, the maps have two running trails marked. The shorter one is within the limits of this property, with some twists and turns, and it's about half a mile loop. The second running trail is longer, it goes around both properties on the peninsula and through the park, and it's about three miles loop.

Hande decided to take the longer trail. Her morning run at the Beach House is five miles long and taking the longer trail will be more interesting than doing repeated laps on this property.

She went to the garden and did some light stretching before starting her run. To reach the trail, she needs to go through the training grounds.

Hande paused. Is that someone already training? She blinked when she realized that a person doing pullups is Ade.

She smiled when she remembered that last night they chatted for a long time and even though Ade teased her occasionally, she didn't dislike it.

Hande didn't want to interrupt him, and her plan was to go around him, but he saw her.

"Good morning.", Ade greeted cheerfully, slightly out of breath. "You have an early start. It's before 5 AM in California."

"I usually start early.", Hande responded. "Don't stop because of me. I am going for a run."

Ade ignored her rejection. "Are you doing the long or the short trail?"

"The longer one."

Ade has no intention of letting Hande go on her own. She is only nine years old and plans to run through an unknown neighborhood by herself? He shook his head inwardly. It seems that her stay at the Beach House gave her a false feeling of safety. OK, maybe not false. The Beach House and the Cliffside Villa are on large properties and safe, but this is Texas and Hande is planning to run through the unknown neighborhood and a park.

"I will join you.", Ade declared sternly while wiping the sweat off from his face and neck with a towel.

Hande wanted to refuse, it is obvious that Ade was doing something else and he probably did his warm-up run. But then Hande remembered that she should not be doing things on her own because in case something happens, she needs a teammate who will help her. The idea of Ade being her teammate sounds nice. She smiled.

"Thanks."

Ade was happy that she didn't put up any futile resistance. The two of them started with a light jog and then picked up the pace.

About five minutes later, Masika and Zack met at the training ground, spent a few minutes stretching before they started the run along the same trail. From their time in Milan, the two of them are used to do their morning training together and now they picked up like they didn't have a few months gap.

Allen and Julius were right behind Masika and Zack, Haru and Nala were next, and the others trickled out from the villa shortly after.

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